4 Weird Materials That Will Save The Planet

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“I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success.” – Nikola Tesla

Materials shape the world.

All around us are items made of different materials with different life cycles.

No matter what though, for every material you see, there was also someone who had to decide to use that material, and had to decide how to synthesize it and assemble it into a product.

For each and every product, there are also different additives, various dyes or preservatives, and a wide range of demands during manufacturing, whether it’s heat or water in varying quantities, or manual labor in dangerous conditions.

Quite literally, all these materials make up the world around us.

But that’s not all.

They are also changing the world around us.

Because of that, the future of materials is the future of the world.

So today, I want to celebrate some of the 4 most thrilling (but also weird) new materials that will change the way we manufacture the items all around us.

Ready?

#1: Nanomaterials

After getting close-up experience with a UC Berkeley lab developing new nanotechnology, I have grown increasingly interested in the future of nanomaterials.

But what is nanotechnology?

The prefix ‘nano’ refers to a billionth. So nanotechnology is tech that involves the manipulation of atoms at the scale of 1-100 nanometers. In other words, technology that requires us to rearrange atoms at 1-100 billionths of a meter.

The field was first founded in 1959 by Richard Feynman, after a lecture called “There’s Plenty Of Room At The Bottom”.

He suggested we could manipulate individual atoms as a more robust form of synthetic chemistry.

It was unusual to suggest something like this at the time, but since then, research on nanotechnology has boomed.

Now, we can easily expect the future of nanotech to have applications in energy storage, medicine, and even environmental protection.

That said, there are still plenty of research gaps yet to be filled, with research into graphene and carbon nanotubes advancing the quickest.

But as Feynman proclaimed, still “there’s plenty of room at the bottom”- for creativity, innovation, and an exciting new future of materials.

#2: Mycelium

I’ve had my eye on mycelium-based composites for a while.

But what even is mycelium?

If you’ve ever seen a mushroom, think of it like the rest of the mushroom’s body. In reality, the mushroom you might be imagining is only the reproductive organ of the mycelium, meant to disperse spores to new places.

Underground, in a dead log, or wherever it is growing, the mycelial network stretches far and wide. In fact, it is even considered the largest organism on earth (!).

However the wonders don’t stop there.

Combined, the production of concrete and steel contribute to approximately 15% of our global carbon emissions.

Already, people are using mycelium to replace both of these, which release a huge amount of carbon into the atmosphere every year.

Furthermore, mycelium has been used in clothes, accessories, and even alternative meats.

What’s left is to refine our production processes and explore the material properties of mycelium even more.

But who knows?

Maybe in 20 years, you will be living in a house made of mycelium bricks, wearing mycelium leather, and eating a hamburger made of mycelium and peas.

#3: Carbon-sequestering Carbicrete

Okay, so maybe I said some ugly things about concrete.

But let’s please talk about concrete’s precocious baby cousin: carbicrete.

Right now, concrete is the most used substance on earth after water.

A key ingredient to concrete is cement, which emits 8% of the world’s carbon emissions.

Enter: carbicrete.

Carbicrete essentially allows us to make concrete without using cement, instead replacing it with steel slag as the primary binder and carbon dioxide as the activator.

Steel slag is a by-product of the steel industry, so using it as a raw material minimizes industrial waste.

Furthermore, using carbon dioxide as the activator removes carbon emissions from the environment and helps to mitigate climate change.

Ultimately, curing the concrete with carbon dioxide lets us sequester 1 kg of CO₂ per standard concrete block, which holds a lot of promise in the face of current emission trends.

Now just imagine what would happen if we adopted carbicrete on an even larger scale!

#4: Metamaterials

If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, I need to tell you something.

Invisibility cloaks are real.

And guess what?

It’s all thanks to metamaterials.

These are artificial materials (so you can’t find them in nature) that were designed with certain properties in mind.

Think: noise-cancelling barriers, cloaking devices, and super-lenses. In a lot of ways, these materials feel like the supernatural heroes of the material world.

They are very much the stuff of comic books and Marvel movies!

But how will they save the planet?

So many ways!

For starters, they can help to increase energy efficiency, such as in solar panels or thermal regulation in buildings.

Additionally, metamaterials can be used to develop lightweight and high-performance materials for applications like transportation.

Also, they can be used for passive cooling and heating systems, water purification, and desalination.

That said, there are still many challenges with metamaterials in terms of fabrication, design, and characterization.

We still need to work to make them better. That goes without saying.

But you already know, if you start to see scientists showing off real-life invisibility cloaks, that amazing things are happening.

It’s enough to make me absolutely thrilled for the next 20 years!

Thought To Action

Design a Life You’d Want to Live In: List three feelings or values (e.g., curiosity, calm, freedom) you want to feel more often. Now ask: What would a day designed around these look like?
Choose One Thing to Repair or Repurpose This Week: Whether it’s sewing a hole in your sock or reusing packaging in a creative way, practice seeing value where others see waste.
Imagine a Future Without Trash: Write a short paragraph or draw what your neighborhood would look like if nothing was disposable. What would change?
Audit Your Footprint (Literally): Check the label on your most-used shoes or clothes. What are they made of? Could a more sustainable material work instead?
Read About the Next-Gen Materials: Check out mushroom leather, mycelium bricks, or algae packaging. Explore how artists and engineers are already building that future.